“They died for humanity and we will never forget them”: a tribute was paid in Paris on Monday to the six French humanitarian workers from the NGOs Acted and Impact who were killed a year ago in Niger with their Nigerian guide and driver.
«Jamais nous ne connaîtrons la souffrance des familles mais sachez que le le de la responsabilité, la culpabilité ne nous quittent pas», to the co-founder of Affected, Frédéric Roussel, confiant that the 9 year 2020 «restera le jour le plus terrible of their life “.
That day, armed men on motorcycles executed two men and four women between the ages of 25 and 31 who worked for Acted and Impact, along with their Nigerian guide and driver, while they were visiting the giraffe reserve of Kouré, 60 km from the capital. , Niamey, where they were based.
Their smiling portraits were arranged on a table covered with African canvases with candles and small cans of Nigerian sand.
“On behalf of Acted, I beg your pardon,” continued Frédéric Roussel, addressing the families gathered with NGO employees under the trees of the Champ de Mars. “Sorry for not being able to protect your children, sorry for the madness, the monstrosity of the people who did this, and sorry for the tears of my 10,000 employees who, around the world, are doing everything they can to help others.” , he expressed. articulate, his voice choked with emotion. “We will continue with our work, it will be our revenge,” he concluded.
Videos of the ceremonies organized in a hundred countries where the two NGOs are present were then projected on a screen.
In Niamey, Acted employees laid the foundation for a school dedicated to victims “who will stay with us forever,” said an employee from Nigeria.
“They lived through the most cruel and inhumane when they chose to make the world a better place,” a family member of a victim testified on condition of anonymity. The question “that worries me the most is why?” Because you ? Why kill the humanitarians who have come to defend the universal values of peace and humanity? It doesn’t make sense, ”said another.
“France does not forget them,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a statement, indicating that “judicial investigations continue so that this heinous crime does not go unpunished and its perpetrators are brought to justice.”
In Paris, three anti-terrorist investigating judges are investigating this attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, in collaboration with the Nigerian judicial authorities.
